


Nightingale

by darling_pet



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Accidents, Caretaking, Dark Past, F/M, Ficlet, Hurt, One Shot, Reader-Insert, Riddles, Strangers, nightingale effect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-24 18:58:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16181189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darling_pet/pseuds/darling_pet
Summary: You find yourself waking up from an accident in a stranger’s bed, and it would seem Mr. Nygma has fallen for his patient…





	Nightingale

Your vision starts to return albeit still a bit blurry. You can only just make out the outline of a body sitting off to the side of you. You’re in… a bed?  _Why am I in a bed? Why am I in a bed that’s not_ mine _?_

You start to sit up against the pillows, but a worried voice comes from the body next to you.

“Please, no, don’t move.”

“Where am I?” you ask. “Who are you?”

“My name is Ed Nygma, and you are in my apartment. You’ve been out for quite some time.” Vision clearing up a bit, you finally see the man - brown hair in perfect placement, glasses, and a sweater vest. He seems harmless enough.

“What happened to me?”

“You’ve suffered a nasty fall which rendered you unconscious outside, so I brought you up here. I’m afraid you have to stay until I see you’ve regained normality in your sensorimotor systems. Do you feel dizzy?”

“I mean, a little? But-”

“But nothing! Please, I insist. Let me help you.” The man, Ed, offers you a glass of water with a straw. “Water?”

“Thank you,” you reply, still very confused at the way he speaks to you, “Sorry, do we know each other?”

“No. I mean, yes. Well, I know  _you_ ,” Ed explains, “It’s doubtful that you know me, but when I saw your accident earlier, I couldn’t just leave you there.” He hesitates but eventually decides to sit down on the mattress beside you. Ed grins, showing off his pearly whites.

“What’s the smile for?” you press.  _He’s a fascinating man, isn’t he?_

He waves a hand at you. “Oh, it’s nothing.”

“Please, I’m curious.”

“I’m enjoying your inquisitive nature. Questions. Riddles. Puzzles. It’s kind of my thing.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes.”

“May I have an example of one?” Ed appears pleasantly surprised at this.

“What is now inexplicably yours but you cannot physically hold?”

You think about it for a moment, but find it difficult. Maybe under different circumstances, you could guess it correctly.  “I’m… not sure.”

“My heart,” he answers.

“Oh my,” you say, a little taken aback. “But you hardly know me, Mister Nygma.”

“That may be true…” he says, now donning a far darker expression, “but I do know what you did to your neighbour.”

You think your heart stops. How could this man know what you did? It was an accident! Even though you had always wished death on your neighbour, you didn’t actually  _mean_ to…

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” And now you’re trapped here in his apartment, unable to leave.

“Please, spare the act, Miss (Y/L/N). Your secret is safe with me.” Ed takes off his glasses and gazes at you with a sort of infatuation mixed with a dark seriousness. “Now, tell me, do you believe in fate?”


End file.
